The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" is a Sherlock Holmes short story by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It first appeared in print in the issue of The Strand magazine for April 1892. It would be published again in October of the same year as part of the anthology The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In the story, the brilliant consulting detective Sherlock Holmes is contacted by the nobleman Lord St. Simon. Lord St. Simon became engaged to a wealthy American woman named Hatty Doran. On their wedding day, shortly after the ceremony, Hatty disappeared. Once he has heard all the known facts of the case, Sherlock Holmes quickly solves the mystery. Notably, in "The Adventure of the Noble bachelor", Sherlock Holmes expresses his great admiration for the United States. Holmes says that he hopes that, in the future, the Americans and the British people will both be "citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes". The story has been adapted for radio and television. Plot One afternoon in the autumn of 1887, Sherlock Holmes receives a letter from Lord St. Simon. In the letter, Lord St. Simon informs Holmes that he will be visiting him that afternoon to ask for his help regarding the "very painful event" connected to his wedding. Lord St. Simon explains that Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard is already investigating the case but that the inspector would welcome Holmes' assistance. Holmes knows nothing about the case. Dr. Watson, Holmes' friend and housemate, reads to him everything which has been reported about the case in the newspapers. Lord St. Simon is the second son of the Earl of Balmoral. Lord St. Simon is not independently wealthy and it is well known that the Earl of Balmoral has recently had to sell some of his paintings in order to raise money. It was therefore expected that Lord St. Simon's marriage to Hatty Doran, the daughter of millionaire Aloysius Doran of California, would be of great financial benefit to his family. The wedding, held at St. George's Church, Hanover Square, was a very quiet affair to which only a few people were invited. A reception was held afterwards at the London home of Aloysius Doran in Lancaster Gate. The reception was briefly interrupted by the arrival of a woman named Flora Miller, a former dancer who alleged that she "had some claim on Lord St. Simon". Flora Miller was made to leave. Having already arrived at her father's house before Flora Miller, Hatty did not hear the disturbance which the woman caused. During the reception, Hatty got up from the table, complaining of feeling ill, and went to her room. When she did not return after some time, Hatty's father went to investigate. Hatty's maid informed him that her mistress was only in her room for a short time before putting on a bonnet and an ulster coat and going out. A footman confirmed having seen a woman dressed in such a manner, whom he assumed was one of the guests, leave the house. The police were informed of Hatty's disappearance. Flora Miller was later arrested in connection with it. Lord St. Simon arrives. He shows Holmes a portrait of his wife. He answers Holmes' questions and provides the detective with more information about the case. Lord St. Simon first met Hatty Doran in San Francisco the previous year. He became engaged to her when he met her again recently in London. Lord St. Simon does not consider Hatty Doran's dowry to be unusually large for someone from his family. He acknowledges that he may be allowed to keep the dowry, since he has already married Hatty, but says that he has not asked about that. Hatty Doran's father became rich after he found gold and then wisely invested his money. He did not make his fortune until Hatty was more than twenty years old. Until then, Hatty had grown up in mining camps and rarely attended school. Lord St. Simon considers his wife to be strong willed and a tomboy. He is, however, certain that she is of good character and would never do anything dishonorable. According to Lord St. Simon, Hatty appeared to be perfectly happy until after the wedding ceremony. On her way out of the church, Hatty dropped her bouquet. A man, a member of the public whom Lord St. Simon had never seen before, picked it up and returned it to her. When Lord St. Simon spoke to Hatty about it afterwards, she seemed angry. Lord St. Simon says that he heard Hatty speaking to her American maid Alice before the reception began. For ten minutes, Hatty sat at the table, from which Lord St. Simon says it was possible to see the park on the other side of the road out of the window, before complaining of feeling ill. Lord St. Simon says that Hatty was later seen with Flora Miller. He reluctantly admits to having had a previous relationship with Flora Miller. He had expected the former dancer to try to disrupt the wedding. For that reason, Lord St. Simon made sure that the wedding was a small and simple one. He had also arranged for some plainclothes policemen to be at the reception. Before Lord St. Simon leaves, Holmes says that he has already solved the case, although he does not yet know where Lord St. Simon's wife is. Inspector Lestrade arrives. He says that he has been dragging the River Serpentine in search of Hatty Doran's body because her wedding dress, veil, shoes and wedding ring were found near to it. A card case was found in the wedding dress. Inside the case was a note which read, "You will see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M." Holmes notices that the note is written on the back of a piece of a hotel bill and that the prices on the bill are expensive. After Inspector Lestrade leaves, Holmes announces that he is going out. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Watson is surprised by the arrival of two men. The men lay out a large cold supper for five people on a table and tell Watson that the meal has been paid for already. They then, as Watson says, vanish "like the genie of the Arabian Nights. Some three hours later, Holmes returns. He is followed soon afterwards by Lord St. Simon and a man and a woman that he introduces as "Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hay Moulton". Lord St. Simon recognizes Mrs. Moulton as his wife Hatty Doran. Hatty explains that she got engaged to Francis Moulton, whom she calls Frank, while he, like her father, was prospecting for gold. Unlike Hatty's father, Frank Moulton failed to strike it rich. For that reason, Hatty's father insisted that the engagement be broken off and moved with his daughter to San Francisco. Frank followed Hatty there. He told her that he was determined to become rich and would then marry her. Hatty promised to wait for him. Frank suggested that they get married at once but not reveal their marriage to the world until after he became wealthy. Hatty agreed. After the wedding, Frank traveled around the United States to seek his fortune. Hatty later read in a newspaper that Frank was among a group of miners who were killed by Apaches in New Mexico. A year later, having heard nothing from Frank since she read the newspaper article, Hatty agreed to marry Lord St. Simon. Frank was not killed by the Apaches but was taken prisoner by them. He eventually escaped and went first to San Francisco and then to England in search of Hatty. He read about her upcoming marriage in a newspaper. Not knowing Hatty's London address but Knowing the name of the church where the wedding was to be held, Frank went to the church on her wedding day. Hatty saw Frank on her way into the church. He signaled to her not to say anything to disrupt the service. During the service, she saw him write a note. She deliberately dropped her bouquet next to Frank as a way of getting him to pass her the note. After the ceremony, Hatty told her maid Alice that Frank was alive. She got Alice to help her escape and swore the maid to secrecy. Hatty left when, through the window, she saw Frank signal to her from the park on the other side of the road. After Hatty left the house, Flora Miller approached her. She spoke about her previous relationship with Lord st. Simon but Hatty did not pay much attention to her. Frank was in favor of telling Lord St. Simon and his family that Hatty was already married. Hatty, however, persuaded him that it would be better if they quietly disappeared. For that reason, Frank dumped Hatty's wedding clothes and they planned to leave for Paris. Hatty said that she would later send a note to her father to let him know that she was still alive. Following up the clue of the note signed F.H.M. written on a fragment of an expensive hotel bill, Holmes began asking questions at London's finest hotels. At the second hotel that he went to, he was told that an American called Francis Hay Moulton had recently stayed there and was given the address of the London house to which Mr. Moulton had moved. At the address, Holmes found Frank and Hatty. He persuaded them that they should reveal the truth about Hatty's prior marriage to the world. Holmes invites Watson, Frank, Hatty and Lord St. Simon to join him in the cold supper. Lord St Simon leaves because he refuses to eat with the woman whom he believes has publicly humiliated him. Adaptations A faithful radio adaptation of "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor", starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom on January 23, 1991. "The Eligible Bachelor", the hour-long ninth episode of the Granada TV series The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett, is loosely based on "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor". It first aired on the ITV network in the United Kingdom on February 5, 1992. The episode also incorporates elements from the 1927 Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger". External links *Text of "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" on Wikisource. *Public domain audiobook of "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" on YouTube. *"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" on Baker Street wiki. Category:Mystery Category:Detective Category:Short Stories Category:Famous Category:Classic